Poole Soroptimists are fortunate enough to be located in the stunningly beautiful county of Dorset and today went into the heart of the countryside to the village of Wimborne St Giles and served afternoon teas in the village hall there. Guests enjoyed home-made sandwiches, cakes, scones and bakes plus there was a tombola stand and a bric-a-brac table.Our recruitment table engendered interest and the event helped to raise the profile of Soroptimist International locally. The event raised several hundred pounds for Poole Soroptimists’ charity fund. This year, the President is supporting local charity, LEAF which assists patients and families through leukeamia. The sun shone, the team effort was second to none and the food stunning – well done everyone.  

Poole Club members Jackie de Trafford and President Liz Rodgers walked from Shell Bay to Swanage as part of Dorset WaterAid’s fund-raising walk, Walk4Water. Jackie, who is a Dorset WaterAid committee member, and Liz raised just over £400 between them. Thank you to everyone who sponsored us, your generosity will help to bring sanitation, clean water and education to the corners of the globe where these are not a given and women and children fall ill and lose out on work and education as a result. The walk itself was superb, taking in Shell Bay, Studland village, Ballard Down and Swanage and there were the inevitable stop-offs at the NT cafe and Farm tearooms en route!

Report on ‘Journées d’expression française’ SI Lyon 29 April – 1 May 2016 Text by Liz Rodgers, photos by Sue Fortescue, SI Poole   I’m writing up our experiences and adventures on the train whilst heading to Paris, and have brought with me a wealth of memories of the French Union’s 19th ‘Journées d’expression française’. Most striking was the warmth of the welcome and camaraderie of the French-speaking Soroptimists, along with the wonderful organisation. SI Lyon and SI Lyon Tête d’Or must be congratulated on their successful event, which started on Friday evening with dinner in a city centre ‘bouchon’, a typical Lyonnais bistro specialising in the city’s world-famous gastronomy. We were entertained by the President of SI Lyon, who gave a witty and informative presentation on Lyon traditions. For example, our wine came to the table in traditional ‘pots’, wine bottles with a very

Poole Soroptimists were honoured to attend Poole Lions 2016 Swimarathon Presentations Evening at Broadstone Golf Club earlier today. The Mayor of Poole and Lions President Keith Baker presented Poole Lions’ donation of £2000 to incoming Poole Soroptimists’ President Liz Rodgers. The monies will be used to care for human trafficking victims via the Purple Teardrop Campaign founded and run by Poole Soroptimists.

Ladies from SI Bournemouth and SI Poole made their bi-annual visit to the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Bournemouth to tidy the courtyard garden this week. Both clubs helped set up the unit and have continued to work together to make its courtyard garden a place where people who have suffered sexual assault might gain a little bit of peace when they attend the SARC. The garden was tidied and existing shrubs were pruned, spring flowers were planted beneath the weeping cherry tree and hollyhocks and lupins were planted in other areas of the garden.  They will return in a few weeks to plant colourful summer flowers.

Club members Juanita Byrne-Quinn, Jackie de Trafford and Liz Rodgers were delighted to represent SI Poole at Poole Lions’ annual lunch at Canford Magna Golf Club. Lion President Keith Baker and his fellow Lions made their Soroptimist guests very welcome at this important Lions event. The two organisations work together on the annual Poole Lions Swimarathon, one of the Lions is a Purple Teardrop Campaign trustee and more generally Soroptimists and Lions promote and support each other’s events and activities. Whilst the ethos of the two is quite different, members are like-minded in their commitment to volunteering time and energy to the benefit of others so it was good to spend some social time together to further the friendship between the two clubs.  

Poole Soroptimists have posted their first set of baby hats, knitted by member Jackie de Trafford, to Kathmandu Soroptimists. More baby hats and blankets are following for Nepalese who remain homeless following last year’s earthquake, see https://sigbi.org/southern-england/2016/04/09/knitting-for-nepal/